Curriculum helps teach teens workplace safety

Author: Wendy Hord

Source:
NYSUT United

The need for a curriculum to educate teens on workplace hazards is clear — and it's now available.

Every year in the U.S. an average of 795,000 workers age 15-24 are treated in hospital emergency rooms for work-related injuries. This rate is two times higher than it is for workers 25 years and older. From 2007-11, 20 teen workers were killed on the job in New York state.

Limited work experience and lack of knowledge about workplace safety and worker rights put young people at greater risk for getting hurt on the job.

Your help is needed. NYSUT is working with the New York Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to promote the dissemination of Youth@Work: Talking Safety. This free, classroom-based curriculum educates teens about hazards on the job and their rights.

To get the New York state version of the curriculum, go to www.nycosh.org and select "young workers." For more information, contact Susan McQuade at NYCOSH at 212-227-6440; or email smcquade@nycosh.org.